Sirius XM staring down bankruptcy filing, Ergen tries to swoop

You guys do know that Stern has only a FRACTION of the listeners he had when he was on land-radio, right?

He great at what he does, though he does little to re-invent the wheel like he did before satellite. His biggest problem is that he has nothing to push back against. There’s no line to cross, so there’s no constant battle with management or the FCC. THAT is what made him so compelling for so many years.

Regarding satellite radio in general, though, the pricing model isn’t horrible. What was stupid was the invention of satellite radio by guys who only have the same tired ideas about how to run radio that they did when they were doing terrestrial radio. Old, washed up jocks, and tired decades-old ideas on how to present the stations to the audience.

Cable TV, HBO, et al, were the future of TV because they offered better content, and different ideas. And because of that, local networks had to step up their game. Now, we have a much more robust TV offering than we did in the 70′s or 80′s. The same can’t be said about radio.

I for one would doubt Charlie’s ability here. this is the same PAIN-IN-THE-ASS that is trying to squeeze local broadcasters and treats them like poor channel offerings. Case in point: Fisher Broadcasting (several markets – WA, OR, CA) has been off DISH since 12/17/2008. Ergen uses the channel locations for Fisher Broadcasting to repeat his bitching to the local markets about Fisher. He and his bean counter (young guy, glasses – not the older guy all but dead in his seat) complain that Fisher is asking for an 80% increase but never give a number to the figure. We’re talking pennies. Not dollars. To add insult to injury, DISH owes Fisher over $1M for carriage.

And you think Ergen is going to save satellite radio without charging you up the nose for it? Guess again.

I have 4 subscriptions! Phoning it in, LOLOLOLOL, it’s and awesome show, worth every penny.

U craxy!

If the (un)fairness doctrine is put back into play, the talk radio guys will pretty much have to go to satellite, which would cause a surge in demand. Talk radio might do for satellite, what they did for AM radio.

On Feb 11, 2009 @ 10:50 am, ahow628 Said:

You do realize they pay him $100 million a year right?

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First, get your facts straight. They do not pay Stern $100 million per year.

That $100 million is used for his dedicated studio costs, staff (read: Fred, Robin, Artie, etc…), all additional programming on those two channels, the news team, etc… and then to him and his agents.

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.fan.howard-stern/2005-08/msg00449.html

other than when he was on E!, I’ve never listened to the stern show before (though I love talk radio and stern’s “private parts”).

the demise of terrestrial radio, it seems, has been greatly exaggerated. it’s kind of like the fax machine; it’ll be around much longer than people think.

I’m glad someone straightened that out before I got to it. It’s funny how people skew information. Just listen to what you want or what suits your argument. Also, if you think Stern only has 500,000 listeners, you’re really off the mark. I’ve been a Sirius subscriber for 5 years, joined when there was less than a half million subs. Stuck with it because the music channels were amazing! Nothing like radio…no BS contests, no endless DJ’s, very deep playlist, and no commercials. It was worth every cent! Then Stern joined and I have not tuned into an FM station in 3 years. Problem is, with Stern came MILLIONS of subs and radio execs. Over the last few years my music channels have become the exact thing I wanted to get away from. Lame music selection, Top 20 countdowns, DJ’s who think we care what they have to say and repetition. Add to that free online listening is going away in a few weeks and I’m now paying more for basically uncensored FM radio and Howard. I’ll continue to subscribe and support Sirius as long as Howard is part of the team…even with his somewhat annoying schedule. But to think that Stern isn’t worth 10x what they are paying him is ridiculous. That $78 million figure was factored off of a half million listeners. Make it a more reasonable 5 million subscribers that would leave and you’re talking $780 million a year they would lose. Just because you’re not a fan of Howard, don’t underestimate his draw. Sirius was just about done before Stern signed on with only 600,000 subs in 4 or 5 years. Within 2 years after his signing they were at almost 9 million subs. Coincidence???

@El Bastardo who said: “Maybe BGR should start blatantly using each and every post to sell some shitty Curve case or a bunch of lame themes and the fanboys will stop their bitching.”

Nothing like the integrity of a site that only reviews the cheezy, Made-in-China products it sells at full retail+, eh? Pure Class, indeed! (I feel like I need to take a long shower after going there).

^^^ so true! I like crackberry, but their prices for accesories are INSANE!! They charge $30 for seidio case that I got for $12 shipped off ebay.

Redic.

I drive 2.5 hours a day for my commute. On of my carpoolers has Sirius. I’d love to get it, but not for $16 a month. I’d consider it for $5-7 for a limited subset of channels. The DJs do seem to talk a lot though. What’s up with that?

Howard Stern isnt even intertaining anymore, as long as they keep the two dance channels they have right now, i dont really care what they do with the rest of the channels. I know i wouldnt ever go back to FM radio though, static and commercials suck hard.

I think Arty Lang took the new rather badly. He won’t be able to pay for his beach house without Stern.

You are clueless.
1. Stern
2. Junkies
3. Big O & Dukes

Every other show blows

backbeat Said:

@El Bastardo who said: “Maybe BGR should start blatantly using each and every post to sell some shitty Curve case or a bunch of lame themes and the fanboys will stop their bitching.”

Nothing like the integrity of a site that only reviews the cheezy, Made-in-China products it sells at full retail+, eh? Pure Class, indeed! (I feel like I need to take a long shower after going there).
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I’ve never seen them dog a product they sell. I’ve also noticed that their writers will completely jizz themselves every time they write about the simplest little software application made for Blackberry. They are creaming themselves now because they have a BB fart application. The same application that the users there previously said was stupid and why the BB app store was going to KILL Apple’s App Store.

Come on, zach been “phoning it in” since day 1.

Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

Losing Howard would be no loss in my mind. XM was fine, sirus is no plus in my book.

So I guess it wasn’t a good idea for me to take the Sirius marketing bait and avoid the extra $3 internet listening charge by paying for a full year of service upfront? LOL

I only have Sirius because of Stern. If he leaves, I leave. But I tend to agree that he has been phoning it in. He has closed off his personal life almost completely to the audience. I think he is ready to retire.

It’s 12.95 per month for the full Sirius lineup. It’s more for the “best of xm” stuff. I’ve had Sirius for four years and it’s been worth every penny.

I love the fact that I can hear all the NFL games NASCAR and NHL and Soccer…you can’t beat Sirius for sports coverage for the NFL games you get all the games with home and away radio play by play.
HOWEVER I think paying for the online stream is a little much…I have 2 radios why when I pay 20 plus a month for my 2 recievers should I have to pay extra to stream the crap when I am in my office?

it seems the people who love stern/O&A and those other idiots are more backwoods/racist than anything

go eat a hog

Easy killer. I know Howard doesn’t pocket $100M. I never said that. I simply pointed out that paying out $100M for every $78M that you take in was bad business. If they could save themselves $22M a year, then they should do that.